My CCIE Journey Has Officially Begun.

jamesp1983

I have decided that it is time to pursue the first goal I had when I entered IT, the CCIE. I know its going to be an EXTREME challenge, but I'm just pushing forward and trying to stay confident. I'm going to use this thread for tracking my progress throughout my CCIE journey. I purchased the INE Ultimate bundle last week and have been studying and labbing ever since. I'm still trying to figure out what the right balance of lab vs study is at this point, but I'm just reviewing all of the ATVOD material now (over 80 hours), to refresh myself. I'm open for any suggestions on how I should balance lab vs study time. I've been running Dynamips and working with my home switches while watching the videos as a way to get more hands on. I passed BCMSN, BSCI, and ISCW back in 2008, and wrapped up ONT in August of 2010. I have been working with the equipment at my job so that has kept me fresh on a lot of the info, but I'm still studying like I'm just starting out. I research topics in the videos that I don't really remember and that seems to be really helping. I will keep this updated as a motivator and also as a way to keep track of all that I have studied when it comes time for my final review. It feels great to finally get started on this path. My wife and I worked out a schedule and I'm going to try to hit 30-36 hours a week.

My resources:
-INE Virtual Lab
-The INE workbooks
-INE Written VOD
-Routing TCP/IP, vol I.
-Home lab (a few routers and some 3550s.)
-Cisco LAN Switching by Ken Clark
-Routing and Switching, Time of Convergence?
-My CCNP Library.
-Dynamips
-Cisco.com
-INE ATVOD 4.5

Should I buy Odom's exam guide? I think the Boson Exsim for CCIE will be the next addition.

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Comments

Zartanasaurus

Which TS tickets did you miss?

jamesp1983

1,2,6. My RECURDOWN was resolved, but I hurt something else. I burned a bunch of time on 2, so I didn't even get to 6. You?

ML6 was an eye opener. I thought I was better prepared, but I know where I need to spend some more time. I thought QoS would be my weak spot, but I've been doing a lot better on QoS than security. I made some bonehead mistakes that will be avoided in the future. I need to really pay attention to the details of what they want permitted vs denied in the various security configurations. I need to beat up MPLS and security. I just started through the WBI MPLS workbook again and I will revisit security as well.

On a side note, I received word today that my employer is going to reimburse my lab attempt so that's a plus. We were bought out by another company so I had to wait to receive a decision, but it was decided earlier this week.

jamesp1983

I just looked at the overview of ML7. Wow! This one looks like it will be fun.

CCIE Routing & Switching Mock Lab Assessments

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

1,2,7. My RECURDOWN was resolved, but I hurt something else. I burned a bunch of time on 2, so I didn't even get to 6. You?

2 & 6. I thought I had 6 but the grading script said it couldn't check the config of R5 for some reason. :shrug:

jamesp1983

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

2 & 6. I thought I had 6 but the grading script said it couldn't check the config of R5 for some reason. :shrug:

That's really strange. I've had a few issues with grading as well. You did better than I did.

jamesp1983

I just wrapped up ML 7. Wow!

jamesp1983

ML7 was an eye opener. You had to think outside the box that's for sure, but I enjoy that type of lab. I want to do one of the Cisco 360 TS prep labs, but not sure which one to do.

jamesp1983

Somehow i did about average on ML7. I am pleased with that considering I was expecting much worse.

sacredboy

Hi jamesp1983. According to your signature it took you more than a year to prepare for Written exam. Right?

jamesp1983

It was less than a year. I started in 7/2011, passed in 2/2012. I could have taken it earlier, but I didn't want to rush it.

jamesp1983

I might buy this book, but it is expensive. Has anyone read this one?

Troubleshooting IP Routing Protocols (CCIE Professional Development Series): Zaheer Aziz, Johnson Liu, Abe Martey, Faraz Shamim: 0619472050194: Amazon.com: Books

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I might buy this book, but it is expensive. Has anyone read this one?

Troubleshooting IP Routing Protocols (CCIE Professional Development Series): Zaheer Aziz, Johnson Liu, Abe Martey, Faraz Shamim: 0619472050194: Amazon.com: Books

I read it about a month ago. It's 800 pages of "Make sure the interface isn't down. Make sure you typed the right IP address for the BGP neighbor. Make sure your subnet mask is correct".

It's a checklist of just about everything that could be wrong with a particular technology and how to fix it. I didn't find a ton of value in the book.

SteveO86

That book shows up on the ebook deal of the week ever so often.

I didn't find anything special about this book, you can essentially find everything in the book on Cisco.com. it's also in a weird format for Cisco Press books a problem solution type format, if you see this error message look at this, then this, then this, then this....

If you've dealt with EIGRP/OSPF/BGP for any length time and have had to troubleshoot it I doubt you will learn a great deal from this book. It does have a section for IS-IS and multicast, but I've found it nothing more then a compilation of Cisco.com troubleshooting articles.

jamesp1983

Thanks guys. I will not be wasting my time on that book then.

17 days until my lab...crap.

jamesp1983

I wrapped up TS Lab 3 today. I did well in discovering the cause of the issues, but accidentally violated some restrictions in the process or resolving them.

down77

About a week to go, how are you feeling?

jamesp1983

down77 wrote: »

About a week to go, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling alright. I've been working around 75-80 hours a week for the past 2 months on various work projects so that hasn't left much time for anything else, but I have been watching videos and sneaking in lab time whenever I can. I've been doing 1 mock lab a week and I feel like that has been helping. I've completed all of the INE TS mock labs so I am over my fear of large topologies now. Any advice?

jamesp1983

Here is a useful document if you need a quick refresher on MPLS and how all of the pieces fit together (ignore the inconsistencies and accidental inaccuracies...):

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-3374

down77

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I'm feeling alright. I've been working around 75-80 hours a week for the past 2 months on various work projects so that hasn't left much time for anything else, but I have been watching videos and sneaking in lab time whenever I can. I've been doing 1 mock lab a week and I feel like that has been helping. I've completed all of the INE TS mock labs so I am over my fear of large topologies now. Any advice?

Couple things I've learned in the exam process... Don't ignore the obvious, take mental breaks, and most importantly skip questions and come back to them if it takes you more than a few minutes to figure out. In solving other tickets I've had an 'eureka!' moment that helped me solve a previous ticket.

Troubleshooting is mostly about mastering show commands to figure out what is broke, and then knowing how to fix it. Most 2pt tickets have 1-3 errors, and 3 point tickets have 3-8 errors. Make sure you solve at least one 3 point ticket and as many 2 pointers as you can. You have to get at least 17pts on TS to pass.

On configuration don't waste your time trying to redraw the topology. I didn't do this either time, but I did keep the L3 IGP diagram up in the background as I was working on questions. Read through the entire section as you can combine some questions to save time. Speaking of saving, make sure to do a copy run start often and make use of notepad as much as you feel comfortable.

You will do fine! Looking forward to seeing your 5 digit number! This is the year of the CCIE for TE!

jamesp1983

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

I just wrapped up ine ml4. I did well on ts, but not as well on config. It had some tricky parts that I blanked on.

down77

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

I just wrapped up ine ml4. I did well on ts, but not as well on config. It had some tricky parts that I blanked on.

How much time did you take off this week to head to RTP... exam is coming fast!

jamesp1983

down77 wrote: »

How much time did you take off this week to head to RTP... exam is coming fast!

I took 3 days off from work. I am traveling tomorrow and not planning on studying at all. I am going to look over some of my notes today, but that's it. I can't believe I'm this close to my lab date.

jamesp1983

I really enjoyed ML4. I found it challenging, but doable.

down77

Sent you a PM

jamesp1983

Heading to RTP...

SteveO86

Good luck man!!

Slay it man!!

aaron0011

Good luck!

jamesp1983

Thanks guys. I just arrived. Time to go check out the area and get familiar with Cisco's campus. The hotel has a shuttle so that will be convenient.

Essendon

Bring us a win James, we're all barracking for ya!! Bring that number!!

bryguy

Good luck, buddy! We're all rooting for ya! Bring one home for the TEam!